South Africa ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in June 1995. A year later, the South African government specified children’s rights in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, section 28: “Every child has the right to basic nutrition, shelter , health care and social services, as well as the right to be protected against mistreatment, neglect, abuse or humiliation ”. Despite these promises, children of different origins in South Africa are born with unequal opportunities; some affected by poverty, poor health and difficult access to education.

Tibet was occupied by China in 1950 and since then the six million Tibetans who today live in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region are under the rules imposed by the Government of Beijing through a regional authority. In 2010, bilingual education was introduced in minority areas of China – not just in TAR – for competitive reasons: it would be better for students to learn two languages, their local one, in this case Standard Tibetan – which is also official language in the region – and standard Chinese, to open doors in the world of work tomorrow.

According to statistics in Russia, the percentage of families living in a healthy family environment is around 15%. The rest of the families are dysfunctional and their level of happiness is below average. The fault lies with factors such as the level of involvement of the father or the degree of demand imposed on the children, as well as the excessive responsibility of the woman or the frustrated expectations of marriage.

To begin with, in the Chinese tradition the family was the central nucleus, shaping social and collective life. It offered its members great protection, but demanded in return absolute submission to the head of the family. Since 1982, when family law was reformed, pregnancy was thoroughly controlled from a medical point of view. The ultrasounds are carried out but the sex is not revealed to the parents, to avoid abortions of female fetuses. During pregnancy, especially in rural areas, women should not use needles, knives, or scissors, because they are considered to threaten the physical integrity of the fetus. She is used to covering the belly with a red cloth from the first months, similar to a small apron, to prevent the fetus from looking outside and seeing unpleasant things, as well as curiosity leading her to want to anticipate the birth. The apron is passed from mothers to daughters, or between relatives and friends.

As much as we think we are informed about parenthood, the way we raise our offspring is very atavistic. Nobody is surprised that parenting varies in each culture, but it is curious to what extent it differs in countries that, in social and economic terms, are very similar. Every society has beliefs about the correct way to educate children that make up what are called parental ethnotheories. This set of beliefs, which are transmitted from parents to children, are much more powerful than we think. As much as we think we are original, we are educating our children following a social conviction.